See This Too: Pedro Costa

See This Too: Pedro Costa

Anthology’s currently playing host to a retrospective feting the enigmatic works of Portugal’s other famous—and famously difficult—filmmaker, Pedro Costa. I caught his latest Colossal Youtha few months back and I’m planning a return to trip to see if the film’s many teasing strands coalesce more fully with a bit of foreknowledge, or if the film remains stubbornly (albeit pleasurably) diffuse.

Also showing are his earlier features O Sangue, Casa de lava, Ossos, and No Quarto de Vanda, a documentary he made about Straub-Huillet and a few of his shorts. I caught the first two features on Friday, and while both are wildly flawed ventures, it’s fascinating to watch the assured filmmaker behind Colossal Youth pushing the boundaries of narrative which he’d bust apart a few features later.